


ask me on a date already

by heyvelrisa



Category: Original Work
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Modern AU, Modern Royalty, Mutual Pining, Royalty, Sapphics, Self-Indulgent, i cant stop writing 5+1 things, wlw, women in love babey!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 12:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30089433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyvelrisa/pseuds/heyvelrisa
Summary: Alexandra is nothing if not oblivious. Luckily for her, Clementine is nothing if not blunt.Or, five times Clem and Alex almost kiss, and one time they do (except it’s Modern AU and Alex is Clem’s bodyguard).
Relationships: Clementine Cordelia/Alexandra Gold
Kudos: 3





	ask me on a date already

**Author's Note:**

> content warning for profanity!
> 
> alex belongs to addy!! enjoy : )

Five times Clementine and Alex almost kiss and one time they do, except it's the modern AU where Alex is Clem's bodyguard.

•••

v

Alexandra despised parties. 

There was nothing appealing about them to her. At all. Not the loud chatter, not the music (okay, the music was tolerable early in the night, but then people tended to keep turning it up until the bass beat rattled the windows), not the horny teenage boys, not the alcohol. 

Clementine, however, loved parties. 

Clementine was one lucky motherfucker. 

Alex was required by contract and by her own moral compass to come to every party Clem went to. There were quite a few. Maybe a normal amount for other people, but Alex was not exactly a people person. She tried to convince Clem to stop coming to these parties— she was barely eighteen, shouldn't be drinking alcohol in the first place, and Alex hated them— but then she would flutter her eyelashes in a way that made it impossible to say no, and then Alex was stuck in positions like this: glued to a wall in the corner of a crowded room, eyes on Clem at all times. 

Tonight, by now, Clem was quite a few drinks in. Alex could tell by the way she was moving; her limbs were sluggish, and she could almost hear the sound of her loose laughter as she danced with a few other girls in the living room. It was hard to focus on anything other than the God-awful stench of beer literally all around her, but she managed. 

Alex felt a wave of something roll over her body as a boy in their grade approached Clem from behind, plastic cup in hand. She watched as he "accidentally" bumped into her, prompting her to turn around and laugh apologetically at him, which brought an overly confident smirk to his face. They chatted back and forth as they danced, and within five minutes, they were dancing much closer than they had been before. Alex tried to stay still, to keep from intervening, but when the guy's hand on her hip began travelling lower, she practically sprang off of the wall, grabbing Clem's wrist— the one that wasn't occupied with alcohol— and tugged her away. She sent an icy glare to the douchebag and ignored Clem's whiny protests, steering her toward the much less crowded kitchen. 

"Clementine, we need to get going." Alex's voice was firm. Clem let out another whine to protest. 

"C'mon, we just got here." She stopped struffling against Alex's grip and let her hand fall limp in her grip. 

"We've been here for hours. You're drunk." Alex poked her chest. "I may be your friend, but I'm your protector first, and that shit—" She pointed back to the loving room where Douche probably still was— "isn't gonna fly. You're too drunk. We need to get you home. I'm calling Fierro."

Clem groaned at the name of her chauffeur. "Fierro's gonna be pissed at me."

"Should've thought about that earlier, Princess." Alex dug through one of the nearby coolers until she found a water bottle and handed it to her. "Drink. I'm calling Fierro."

Clem gave her a pretty nasty look, but she opened the bottle and drank without further objection. Alex left the chauffer a quick call letting them know where she and Clem were. 

Once Clem had drank half of the bottle, Alex made her put the cap back on and guided her to the front door so they could wait outside. Clem stumbled to the end of the driveway and sat promptly on the curb, and Alex slowly lowered down next to her. Clem took another long drink of water. 

"Why'd you have to ruin the fun?" Clem whined, and Alex rolled her eyes. 

"I thought you didn't like it when men flirted with you."

"That one was different."

"See, funnily enough, you say that, too, but only when you're drunk." 

Clem mumbled something unintelligible and let the weight of her head drop onto Alex's shoulder. 

"I'm just trying to do what's best for you, Princess."

She didn't say anything after that, and they were quiet until Fierro pulled up to the curb. Alex let her curl up in her lap for the short ride home, and Clem leaned against her when they stumbled into the house. 

Alex led Clem to her room and helped her into bed. Clem was whining and mumbling almost like a sleepy toddler, and Alex gently pulled her sweater over her head so she would be more comfy in her tank top and leggings. Clem collapsed back against the pillows, and Alex tucked the blanket up to her chest and turned to get her some water and some painkillers. 

"Stay here," Clem whined, grabbing Alex's wrist and tugging her back. Alex caught herself on the edge of the bed and sighed up at Clem. Her lower lip jutted out in a begging pout, and Alex had the sudden urge to reach out and gently press it back in with her thumb. Instead, she stood up straight again, tugging her wrist out of Clem's grasp and trying to ignore the sorrowful whine she let out. 

"I'll be back," she reassured her. "Just going to get some stuff for you for the morning."

She let out another whine, but she buried her face in the pillow and didn't say anything else, so Alex turned to get the things she'd promised. By the time she returned with the two Advil and the jug of water, Clementine was out like a light. Alex set the things on the nightstand and hesitated. Clem was asleep now, so there was probably no reason to stay. 

And yet. 

Alex leaned down, pressing the gentlest feather of a kiss to her temple, and settled into the plush chair in the corner of the room. 

•••

iv

Clementine Cordelia did not hate a lot of things. She had a very, very strong disliking for a lot of things, sure. But she would rarely go as far to say that she hated something. 

She hated it when Alex wouldn't talk to her.

Alex had always been quiet, from the moment they'd met. It had taken years for Clem to finally coax her out of her shell, and even now, it took a lot to get her to speak out, especially in public. But there were times when Alex would get twisted so far up in her own emotions that she refused to talk to anyone. That was happening now, but it was different this time. She seemed angry at Clementine. She hadn't met her eyes in almost a week, and when she had to talk to Clem, her responses were short and clipped, her voice laced with venom. It was making her uneasy. She'd talked to Jordan about it a few times, but he had been of no help to her, so she was left to try to make amends on her own. This was a task much more easily completed when you could corner your target privately. Alex had to go everywhere with Clem outside of the house, and she always disappeared as soon as they returned.

One day, Clem finally ran into her on her way downstairs to find something to eat. Alex squared her shoulders when they made eye contact and tried to walk briskly right past her, but Clem reached out and grabbed her wrist, cringing a little when she felt Alex flinch. 

"Why aren't you talking to me?" Clem asked quickly. Alex tugged frustratedly on her hand, but Clem tightened her grip ever so slightly. "If you just tell me, I'll leave you alone, shithead." 

Alex said nothing, just glared daggers at Clem for a long time. Clem tightened her grip when she tugged away again. If Clem didn't know Alex so well, she'd definitely have let go by now; if looks could kill, she'd be long gone. But she was frustrated. Alex wasn't talking to her, and she missed her, but there was nothing she could do if Alex didn't talk to her. 

"Please," Clem added, albeit tiredly. Trying to get even a little bit of a reaction out of her, she added, "Movie night is tomorrow. I don't want it to be awkward."

Contrary to Clem's expectations, Alex's eyes flared up at the mention of movie night, and she finally yanked her wrist from Clem's grip. 

"Leave me alone," she snapped, and it was Clem's turn to flinch. What the hell? 

And then the realization crashed over Clem's shoulders like a bone-crushing wave. Movie night. She felt so stupid. 

Movie night had been a tradition for Clem and Alex for almost a year now. Every two weeks, they would take advantage of what Alex so endearingly referred to as "daddy's money" and make their way to what was essentially the movie theater in her house and watch a movie or two together. The only times they'd ever broken the cycle had been ones when they were out of town. And Clem had been stupid enough to forget last weeks. How did that happen?

She'd spent the evening running lines with Jordan, one of Alex's castmates for the school play. Now she felt a sinking pit in her chest. 

"Holy shit, I'm so stupid. Alex, I'm so sorry—"

"It's whatever," Alex snapped, but the way her hands balled up into fists made it really not seem like whatever. "If you were going to replace me with Jordan, you could've at least told me beforehand."

"Woah, woah, woah. Replace? You're getting way ahead of yourself. We just went out for dinner. Once. I get that I'm a total dick for skipping movie night, but I'm certainly not trying to replace you."

"Okay, but still." Alex crossed her arms over her chest, swallowed thickly. "You should have, you know, told me that there's something going on between you two." 

Clementine blinked once, twice, three times. "What?" The cogs turned slowly in her head. "Wait, do you think— do you think Jordan and I are, like, dating or something?"

Alex was quiet, but she studied Clem with those furious eyes, and a heavy mix of frustration and desperation whirred in her stomach. 

"Alex, that isn't how it is. At all. I can assure you." Clem laughed at the thought of it. "Jordan is really funny, and we clicked as friends really quickly, but he's definitely not my type. Plus you'd be the first person to ever hear if I ever— you know."

Alex still didn't say anything, but her hands relaxed ever so slightly, and that was enough for Clem to keep going. "Look. I'm really sorry about skipping, but I swear I didn't even think about it. Next time shoot me a text or just tell me, okay? I'm really sorry." 

Alex was silent for a moment, and then she mumbled a feeble "'m sorry."

Clem reached out and set a hand on her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. Alex looked up and met her eyes, and Clem stood there longer than she probably needed to. "Is there a way I can make it up to you?"

The corner of Alex's lips tugged up ever so slightly, and even that tiny sign of the Alex she knew was enough to make her heart somersault in her chest. "For now, just show up tomorrow. Please."

Clem nodded dumbly. "Yup. I can do that."

Alex quirked an eyebrow, and Clem's voice caught in her chest. "I'm sure I'll be able to think of something long-term later."

•••

iii

"Dear fuck, I'm never doing another production ever again."

Alex was laying on her back on Clem's bed, staring at the ceiling. Clem sat at the foot of the bed, watching in vague amusement as her professional, well-regarded bodyguard kicked at the air and grunted like it would prove her point. 

"You said that last year," Clem reminded her gently. 

"I mean it this time. I'm so bad at this shit."

"I beg to differ, but okay." Clem scooted closer and picked up Alex's copy of the script, set to the side earlier. "I think your biggest issue is that you're personally struggling to connect to your character. This happened last time we ran lines."

"It's not me, it's my castmates." Alex covered her face with her hands, scratched gently at her own forehead a few times. "I don't think you understant how hard it is for me to enjoy Jordan's presence enough to act like I'm in love with him." She cracked her fingers a bit to peer out at Clem, who was sifting through Alex's script. "I'm not attracted to men, Princess. This is not easy."

Clem rolled her eyes. "That's showbiz. An easy obstacle to overcome."

Alex covered her eyes again and groaned. 

"C'mon, Alex. Run them with me again. Without your script." She finally decided on a page and spread it flat on the bed in front of her. "Just look at me the whole time. We're gonna run the scene where you find out Jordan has been writing you the letters."

Alex took a deep breath and finally sat up next to Clem. They had fifteen minutes until Jordan showed up to actually run lines with Alex. 

They exchanged a few lines, but it was clear that Alex was still struggling a bit. Clem racked her brain trying to figure out a way to make the character more appealing. 

Clem did not consider herself an actor by any means, but she tried to lean more into the role she was filling. She realized very quickly where Alex's frustration was coming from. Taking up a completely new character was an art form. Still, she found herself leaning into Alex's bubble a bit as she read her lines, her voice slipping into that suave, honey-like tone that she used when she flirted. That alone seemed to help— by the end of the scene, Clem could hear the adoration and wonder in Alex's voice. 

Clem set the script aside and looked up at Alex to find that she was still looking at her, still as close as they'd been when they'd been running lines. "And then you'll have to kiss him, and it'll probably suck, but it's fine." Clem's voice was hushed, and she wondered if speaking any louder would shatter the air in the limited space around them. 

Alex opened her mouth as if to say something, and then flushed red and promptly closed her mouth. "I don't— I've never kissed anyone. So. That'll be fun."

Clem furrowed her eyebrows. Her first response was to ask how, but she decided that probably wasn't quite appropriate (nor did she even know where it was coming from). "Well, maybe Jordan will let you practice with him or something."

Alex wrinkled her nose. "No."

Clem laughed softly. "Okay, well, it's not that hard. I'm sure you'll be fine. A natural, probably." Clem's mind buzzed with an intangible warning, trying to pull her away from something she couldn't quite identify. "Most of it's about body language when you're on stage, anyway." 

"Mhm." Alex was still looking at her with that idd intensity, and Clem wondered if she was still in character. 

"Yeah. I mean, I've never really been in a play, but I've been in the audience." Without really thinking about it, Clem reached out and slowly tucked a stray strand of hair behind Alex's ear. The woman shuddered in surprise, and Clem's fingertips tingled. She let her hands trail down to Alex's face, fingertips gently grazing Alex's chin. Her face was about three shades redder than normal. Clem's heart flip-flopped in her chest.

There was a tender knock at her bedroom door, the telltale sign of her mother's presence, and Clem jumped away from Alex. 

"Yes?" she called, breathless. 

Her mother opened the door and poked her head in, and Clem prayed she couldn't feel the tension that had become almost tangible in the room. "Jordan is here." 

The face of the little shit himself appeared alongside Clem's mother, and she waved him inside, her heart hammering against her ribcage. 

Clem's mother left the room as Jordan and Alex began to run their lines, and as Alex steadily slipped back out of character, Clem wondered why Jordan being there made her heart ache, why she wanted to be where he was so badly. 

ii

Shopping for clothes had never been Alex's forte, to say the least. 

Alex considered her clothing style to be fairly low-maintenance. When she and Clem were hanging around the house, she spent most of her time in t-shirts and sweatpants because it was comfy, and Clem's parents always bought clothes for her to wear out, so it was rare foe her to have to shop. There was the occasional formal event that the whole family had to attend, but she always had specific dress codes for that, anyway. Clem's parents sent her measurements and a suit template off to the tailor, and she received her clothes within the following weeks. 

Most of the time. 

Alex had also never planned on going to a school dance.

Once again, Clem was a lucky motherfucker. Not to mention the fact that she was quite persuasive. 

The suggestion of going to Prom had hit Alex like a sack of bricks. She had assumed, of course, that Clem would be going stag with her friends and Alex would be coming with as what she was: a body guard. Which was fine. It was normal, and predictable, and what Alex expected. So she was pretty floored when Clem scooted closer to her while they were working on homework one day and said, "Can we go to Prom together?"

Alex blinked three long, slow times. "Huh?"

"Prom?" Clem asked again slowly. "I don't know. You would've had to come anyway, but I want you to actually have fun." There was a mischievous glint in her eye. "And by oficially inviting you, I am encouraging you to actually hang out with me and have fun at a party for once in your life."

"I mean, I'm not entirely oppossed." Alex was stunned. Talk about a disappointing Promposal.

They were going as friends. It didn't matter anyway. Alex blinked one more time to try to stop thinking about it. It didn't really work, and she didn't really care. 

"That's not a super reassuring answer," Clem retorted, and Alex playfully rolled her eyes. 

"I guess I'll be your date." 

The phrasing immediately made Alex cringe, and she had to turn away from Clem to hide the embarrassment written all over her face because Holy Shit. The word 'date' made it sound official and not at all what Clem probably had in mind. Alex willed the stone mask to come back up over her face and turned back to Clem. The latter was smiling, unphased. 

"Awesome! You're going to come dress shopping with me."

And now Alex was sitting in one of the stiff chairs in that little room of mirrors outside of the Macy's dressing room, making a point not to make eye contact with the middle-aged man sitting next to her waiting for (presumably) his daughter to come out of the other dressing room. Clem had been in there for quite some time; she'd entered the room with six gowns, and so far she'd tried on four. She'd only let Alex see three of them, and Alex didn't know how much more she could take. 

It wasn't that she didn't like spending time with Clem like this. It was quite the opposite, actually. Probably too much so. 

Alex prided herself on hiding her emotions, even from herself. It was arguably one of the hardest parts of her training, mostly because she just took it upon herself to do it, and she thought she was good at it at this point. 

Clem was very good at wrecking her plans, and Alex was starting not to care. And that was what was making her nervous. Because Alex liked Clem. A lot. And Clem's impulsive nature and her gentle touch (those stupid, soft hands) and kind words were starting to sound a lot like "fuck the job, fuck the people, just kiss the fucking girl."

But Alex was patient. And also not an idiot. So she stayed quiet. 

It did not make it any easier to watch Clem step out of the dressing room in her fifth dress of the afternoon, grinning like she'd just found gold. Alex couldn't blame her. She looked stunning there, standing like a princess in the faded blue fabric with the pretty lace florals and the sheer fabric and the thin straps. Alex must have seen a million girls in a million dresses just like it, but Clementine was so different. None of the other girls had made the Macy's dressing room fluorescent lights look like stage lights, put there just for her. 

Alex blinked, dumbfounded, as Clem did a little twirl for her. "I think this is the one," she said, and she sounded so excited that it made Alex's chest hurt. 

"Um, your mom is still in the bathroom."

Clem playfully rolled her eyes, did another slower twirl for her. "What do you think?"

Alex felt something soften in her. "You look really, really good."

Clem seemed to be surprised by the comment, and the two of them held eye contact for a long moment. Alex opened her mouth to continue speaking, but Mrs. Cordelia was back, and Alex could hear her chirping excitedly from behind her. Clem's face broke into that bashful smile her mother always got, and Alex took another moment to study Clem. 

Platonic or not, this was her Prom date. The gorgeous young woman with the flowing brown waves of hair and the faded blue lacey dress and the pretty gold eyes with the little green speckles in them, if you looked close enough. 

No wonder the weeks felt like they were getting longer. 

i

Alex liked to pretend she knew what was happening in Clem's head most of the time. 

This most certainly was not the case. 

Clem was good at fooling her, whether she knew it or not. Because she would go a couple of weeks, maybe even a month of two, with a fairly predictable routine, and Alex would think she finally had her pegged down. 

And then Clem would go out while Alex was on break and do some shit like cut her hair to just above her shoulders, and Alex would be jarred back to reality. 

"What made you wanna do it?" Alex asked, her voice strained as she reached out to touch Clem's soft tufts of hair. It was the first thing she'd been able to say to Clem since she'd gotten home. Her hair had been so long before that it had lost some of its natural curl because of the weight, and it still had a ways to go, but it was already bouncier than it had been in a long time. Alex thought she might combust. 

Clem laughed at her awestruck response. "I dunno, I just wanted it off. I thought it might be cute for Prom." She looked up at Alex almost shyly as she pulled her hand away. "Do you like it?"

"I love it, Clem." Alex resisted the urge to reach out and run her hand through it again. "You look really good. Holy shit."

Clem tilted her head up a little bit, smirking lightly. "You can touch it again. I know you want to."

Alex didn't have to be told twice. It was so soft and pretty, so delicate, so amazingly Clementine that it hurt. 

"You look so good," Alex repeated, then cleared her throat. "This is a really good length on you." Was that something people said about haircuts? It felt vaguely familiar enough. She decided to roll with it. 

"Thank you," Clem said, and there was that bashful tone again. "I hoped you'd like it." Her face flushed a little, freckles popping against her skin, and Alex took a shaky breath as she looked up to meet her eyes. 

"I do." Alex tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Clem inhaled quickly, and the air suddenly felt entirely too thick and Alex realized how close they were to each other. "I tend to like everything you do, really."

Alex wasn't sure where the fuck the stray comment had come from, but Clem smiled mischievously at her, which made it a million times more worth it. 

Alex moved to drop her hand from Clem's cheek, but it was as if Clem had read her mind; she reached up and covered Alex's hand with her own, loosely interlocking their fingers against her cheek, and Alex felt her stomach burning with something intangible but still very real. 

And then Clem dropped her hand slowly, reluctantly. "My mom will be in soon. She was finishing up a call."

Alex nodded hesitantly, and Clem took a step back, nodding her head toward her bedroom. "C'mon. I wanna finish this chapter of the book I'm reading."

Alex nodded, dumbfounded as she followed Clem, and the warmth in her fingers where Clem— beautiful, confusing Clem— had touched her stayed warm for at least the next three hours. 

+i

It was three in the morning, and Prom waa over. 

Alex wanted to go home. 

Luckily, Clem was much easier to persuade when she was sober. 

Prom had been quite a rush. It had been much more enjoyable than Alex ever could have figured. Maybe it was Clem's presence (probably), but she felt a lot better than she normally did at such social gatherings. Still, she only had so much energy, so Clem let her bring her home, and now they were curling up in Clem's movie room wearing sweatpants and t-shirts, waiting for popcorn to pop as the movie started up. 

"I think we should have a chat," Clem said, and Alex's stomach turned over. 

"Dear God, you know I hate it when people start—" Alex started, but Clem hushed her gently. 

"I know. But this isn't a bad talk. Unless you make it one, I guess."

"Well, that certainly didn't help."

"Okay, just hear me out." The microwave beeped loudly behind her, and she took the popcorn out and poured it into a bowl. "I just think that you should ask me on a date at this point."

It took a solid ten seconds for a single thought to even begin to make its way through Alex's brain. "What?"

For a split second, Alex saw a very raw look of insecurity run deep in Clem's face, but it was gone almost as soon as it had come, replaced with that nonchalant look as she sat next to Alex on the couch, pressing their legs together just like she always did, putting the bowl of popcorn between them, just like she always did. 

"I don't know what you've been thinking, but I have been thinking many things. And a lot of them involve you." Clem looked at the TV where the movie had begun to play as if Alex wasn't even there. "And I've never had... feelings like this. For a girl, especially. And that's so scary, but if I'm picking up what you've been putting down for the past like two months, I want to explore that a little more."

Alex's brain felt like mush. Too much information to process at once. Way too much. How had Clem just managed to confess her feelings for Alex, coming out in the process, without actually doing either of those things?

"You want me to ask you out," Alex clarified, slowly. Clem was fidgetting with her hands now. 

"Um, I mean, if you wanted to. Sorry, I totally jumped to a conclusion, and that was really stupid of me, but I just—"

"Nononono." Alex suddenly realized how cold she probably sounded and cleared her throat, setting a hesitant hand on Clem's arm to stop her from talking. "No, I would like that. Very much. Like holy shit so much. I just need to process what you said."

Clem nodded, and they sat there for about a minute, the TV going steady in the background. Alex barely even noticed. 

"Why the fuck didn't you just ask me out first?" Alex finally asked incredulously, and Clem let out a sharp, nervous laugh. 

"I dont know? I've never done this!" Clem squeaked. "I don't want to fuck up. Because I know how much this job means to you and I know we've known each other for years and it could be really weird at this point to do that and also you might just not want me like that and that's fine but—"

"Princess, you're rambling." Alex didn't miss the way Clem shivered. "Yes, you little shit, I have a huge crush on you. I just wish I'd known. Wow."

There was a long beat of silence, and then Clem. "Well, what now?"

Alex shrugged. "I guess we... go on a date."

Clem began chewing her bottom lip, and Alex could already feel the weary fondness setting in. "Okay, but what if someone sees us in public and my parents find out and what if people talk and I don't want you to lose your job and also what if you actually hate dating me and never wanna work for me ever again and—"

Alsx finally just grabbed Clem's chin, gently turning her head to face Alex. "I am very confident that I like you." Alex raised an eyebrow. "We can take it slow. We don't have to decide everything now. It's 3 in the morning."

"Arguably the best time to talk about this stuff." Alex felt her hand move back to rest in Clem's hair, and the brunette closed her eyes and leaned back into it. 

"Not the night of, Clem. We'll see where it goes. We can discuss public boundaires in the morning."

Public boundaries. Specifically. 

After a while, Clem opened her eyes and looked bashfully up at Alex. Her breath caught in her throat. She looked so ethereal, so innocently beautiful, and Alex had to clench her jaw to keep it from dropping. 

"What if, theoretically, I said I wanted to kiss you?"

Alex's heart hammered against her ribs. "I'd let you. In a heartbeat." At school. In that Mexican restaurant on the corner that Clem has always liked. In the back of Fierro's car. In Clem's movie room, on her couch, at 3 in the morning after Prom. "I must warn you, I'm not terribly experienced."

"I'm sure you would be amazing at it." Clem squinted a litte, and there was a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Still, though. Maybe we should test it just to get a feel for what we're looking at here."

Alex rolled her eyes playfully and let her hand travel back to cup her head, and Clem hooked her finger through the gold chain that had been around her neck since the beginning of the night. Clem let out a shaky breath, as if she'd been waiting to do that all night, and tugged Alex closer. That one little finger had way too much power, let alone the rest of her. 

Clem leaned up and kissed her.

Okay, maybe Alex hadn’t been smart for stuffing her foot into her mouth. Maybe that wad her stupidest decision of all time. Whatever. She had more important things to worry about. 

Clem shifted closer, hands trailing up to rest in Alex’s hair, and there was a moment where Alex didn’t quite know where to put her own hands. Funnily enough, this wasn’t the first time the two had kissed— drunken Clem and her stupid party games and that stupid spinning bottle— but it was the first time Clem had really kissed her, with intent and care, and Alex could feel herself melting away. Her hands finally settled on Clem’s hips, and Clem sighed just a little, melting into Alex’s delicate touch. 

Clem pulled away after a while, and their noses brushed gently. Alex let out a shaky breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. 

“Got a base score for me?” Alex asked after a long moment, still breathless. “What are we working with?”

Clem pursed her lips together and looped her arms lazily around Alex’s neck, such a natural movement that it made Alex’s heart sigh. Clem looked up and pretended to think for a moment. Finally, she looked back up at Alex. “Not sure. We should do a few tests. You know, for accuracy’s sake.”

Alex nodded in what she hoped was a thoughtful way. “Well, I can’t argue with that.” 

When Clem tugged Alex back into her, chasing her flushed lips like her life depended on it, they were both smiling.


End file.
